Chapter Thirty-Five

Taylin

Exiting the car, depressing thoughts and exhaustion weighing him down, Taylin stopped to stare at the house in total darkness, getting a feeling of its emptiness. He shook it off, aware that Hollis had no plans for the evening, and put it down to the harrowing day.

Nothing could have prepared them for what they'd found in the factory's basement. A shudder ran through Taylin, pursued by another when the scent of degradation clinging to his clothes wafted up to his nose. They'd called in the police upon discovering the chains and handcuffs used to keep the omegas captive. When Aven had asked about returning to the basement, it had opened up a whole can of nasty. It took six of Oakland's men to hold Booker back from ripping Amatus's head from his body.

Amatus and the other alphas were all locked up in jail, spluttering about injustices that fell on deaf ears. Taylin had put in a call to Dad that, using his many connections, would hopefully see that they'd stay there. He wasn't stupid enough to believe that justice always worked in the favor of the innocent.

Taylin ran his hands over his tired and achy eyes, trying hard not to think about how, when they'd switched to video chat, Popi had wept inconsolably at what he'd seen. Shaking off these maudlin feelings as best he could, Taylin walked to the trunk, hoping not to rehash it all—when they'd done that throughout the flight home—with Hollis. Tiredness had him hesitate, fatigue making him consider leaving his things right where they were until tomorrow.

He released a gusty groan and popped the trunk to grab his suitcase and laptop carry bag. Hollis liked things orderly and wouldn't be happy with him for leaving his things in the car. Coming out to get them, once inside, wasn't part of his plans.

Clicking the key fob, lights flashed and then moonlight guided him up to the front door. His thoughts went back in a direction he didn't want but couldn't avoid with the day clinging to him like glue, forcing him to repeatedly relive what none of them had been prepared for. There was no hiding what they'd discovered. Those omegas deserved to be heard.

Flinching as he remembered that they'd left all those omegas in those conditions, at the hands of those barbaric assholes, after their first visit, Taylin consoled himself that what they'd achieved today changed things for those men. They were no longer trapped in that hell .

Oakland's team would see to that. They had stayed behind to escort the men to a swanky hotel they'd booked out to give them some privacy and safety. For now, Oakland's team were staying put. The factory was closed until the omegas healed and decided what they wanted to do. Whatever that was, Starling Enterprises would honor it without question.

Quietly, Taylin opened the front door and slipped silently into the house, just taking the time to lock up then going straight to the stairs. He left the lights off, having quickly become familiar with the layout, and tiptoed up the bedroom.

He stopped outside the closed bedroom door, getting a whiff of himself. Quickly changing direction, he went to the empty room next door. Switching the light on, he waited for his eyes to adjust. He placed his things down and stripped where he stood. Walking naked into the bathroom, he didn't wait for the water to heat as he stepped into the glass shower cubicle, determined to wash off the stink. He gritted his teeth to keep the curse words for escaping as he shivered, reaching for the shower gel on the shelf.

The water hardly had a chance to get steamy before he was turning off the faucet to step out and grab a towel. He slung it around his shoulders, using it to dry his hair first because the thick curls took a while. Disregarding the water dripping down his body and onto the tiled floor, he avoided looking at himself in the mirror above the sink.

Rubbing vigorously, he touched the ends, satisfied he wouldn't soak the pillow. He left the towel hanging around his neck and reached for a larger towel to rub off the moisture clinging to his skin, then he draped it around his waist. Lastly, he took the one he used for his hair to mop the floor, using his foot to move it around and soak up the water.

Done, he dropped that towel into the laundry basket, walking out of the bathroom on legs that suddenly felt filled with lead. In the hallway, his hand on the handle of the bedroom door, he stilled.

His eyes narrowed when he picked up the sound of an engine idling right outside of the house. The hairs at the back of his neck prickled, and he was heading down the stairs a moment later, uncertain why, but driven by a feeling something was off.

Had the press discovered where Hollis lived?

He'd barely hit the bottom stair when the door in front of him opened with such force it bounced off the paintwork with a resounding thud. His heart did something real similar as it thumped painfully against his ribs at the sight in front of him.

"What's you do that for," Hollis slurred to the man who stood with his arm around his waist, looking to be holding him up.

"'Cause you're wobbling, and I fell," Bowie said, sounding as drunk as Hollis.

Taylin stared at the tableau the men made, completely unaware of his presence as they glared at each other.

In his tired state, it took a moment to notice Hollis was missing his glasses. He crossed his arms over his damp chest. "What's going on? "

Two sets of eyes shifted in his direction, only one held Taylin's full attention. Hollis gave him a beautiful, if not lopsided and smashed grin. "You're home."

"He's home," said Bowie gleefully, all but shoving Hollis towards Taylin. "Now you can stop complaining you'll be alone."

Hollis missed the step and lurched forward towards Taylin, who reacted on pure instinct to catch him before he fell on his face. The towel around his hips slithered down his legs to pool at his feet.

"Shit!"

Bowie and Hollis both groaned at the same time. Taylin wasn't concerned about Bowie or his nakedness. No, it was Hollis's wandering hands as he cooed, "Nakey mate."

"Thanks Bowie, see you." On that Taylin slammed the door shut, not in the least bit sorry when Hollis latched his two tongues around his nipple and wiggled them playfully. Regardless of how tired he was, his cock twitched.

He dragged in a deep breath, then exhaled quickly to take another breath when he scented… "Where the fuck have you been?" he demanded. "You smell of sex!"

The last thing he expected was for Hollis to giggle, his hands clumsily roaming down Taylin's naked body.

"Jupiter…

"Jupiter what?" he rasped past the dryness in his mouth at the many things his brain conjured up that his brother was capable of.

"Sex… club… doing… sexy st…" Hollis slumped against him and a split second later, released a soft snore .

"Hollis." He gave his mate a little shake. "Hollis… wake up."

He didn't so much as raise an eyelid as he groaned and snuggled his way back into Taylin's body, highlighting once more what Taylin had scented coming from him.

He growled, scooped up Hollis and marched up to the bedroom, leaving the towel. He took his time stripping Hollis, and, seeing no evidence of anything that would have him done for murder, he coaxed him to drink some water before tucking him up in bed.

Satisfied he'd taken care of his mate for the time being, he stomped out of the bedroom to retrieve his phone from the spare room, a full head of steam building as he opened up the group chat.

Alphaholes Chat

Taylin: Jup, what the fuck have you been doing with my mate at a sex club? You better fucking answer me, or I won't be responsible when I get my damn hands on you.

Silas: Why are you messaging at one in the morning?

Silas: Forget I asked, now I've got my eyes to wake up.

Booker: Why would Jup take Hollis to a sex club? I'm confused.

Kodi: Not the only one bro… are you guys home?

Rue: It's too sordid a story for now, will catch up tomorrow. But yeah, we got home an hour ago.

Taylin: Jup, answer me!

Jupiter: Keep your fucking hair on, I was busy…

Taylin: I'm not in the fucking mood Jupiter. Why did you take Hollis to a sex club tonight? What the fuck were you thinking? Did someone touch him? He reeks of sex.

Jupiter: I did no such thing! They were all there at Sinful. Hollis and the other PAs getting drunk and having fun watching what goes on in there. And I wasn't paying attention to what they were doing, I was preoccupied.

Silas: All of them?

Booker: What's this shit?

Laken: Why is it that I'm figuring preoccupied means having someone bounce on your balls in a public place?

Jupiter: Don't knock it till you try it bro.

Kari: We aren't all as kinky as you.

Jupiter: You sure about that… Daddy…

Kari: Fuck you!

Silas: We don't care what y'all get up to. More importantly, what were the PAs doing in the club, Jupiter?

Jupiter: How the hell would I know? Having a good time, I suspect, away from you boring alphaholes. Now leave me the fuck alone because whatever they were or weren't doing has nothing to do with you lot. Or me!

Taylin: Hollis is my mate!

Jupiter: Then, if you take a damn second to pull your head from your ass, you'll know he's incapable of doing anything because you're mated! Now if you lot have finished the Jupiter bashing part of the night, I'm going to finish living my goddamn life the way I choose.

Booker: Anyone know if we could find out if the others got home safely?

Kari: I'll reach out to Bowie, he'll have been sensible.

Taylin: You couldn't be more wrong. He was as drunk as Hollis when he was here.

Kari: Is that right?

Kodi: What's with you, bro? Something I'm missing here?

Silas: We're all fucking missing something… our damn sanity since we got assigned these PAs!

Taylin's lips quivered, and he shook with laughter not a second later at how right Silas was as he closed the group chat, noticing that he was standing naked in the middle of the room and feeling much better than he had.

Jupiter made a valid point, Hollis was his mate, and Taylin became embarrassed he'd jumped to conclusions. He could only put his reaction down to the shit day and shock at seeing Hollis drunk. It was a day of firsts!

If there was one consolation, Hollis hadn't seen him acting like a jealous ass. After his day, that was a win.

He put his cell on the dresser and left it there so as not to be disturbed by the chat. He got the impression the others wouldn't drop the topic of whether the PAs got home safely. Which was interesting, but didn't warrant him losing any sleep.

When he slipped quietly between the cool sheets, Hollis rolled straight into him, giving him a sense of peace that had been missing since he'd left him. Hollis wriggled closer, moving until no one could get a hair between them. A sigh followed, then came the soft snores.

Taylin buried his face into Hollis's hair until he found a spot that was pure Hollis and inhaled. He laid an arm over Hollis's body and shut his eyes.

Tomorrow… they would talk about visits to sex clubs… without him.